White Grubs!

[Lazylightningny]

My fellow B-Nutters:
I have several trees growing out in my grow garden. One of them is this prunus yamadori collected in March 2014. Here it is:

Some of the leaves were not doing well: curling up, browning, dying back. I thought it was a fungal infestation, and sprayed with neem a few months ago, then copper a couple of weeks ago. The problem persisted.
I was poking around the roots tonight, and noticed some movement, so I removed some soil from around the base, and saw a white grub burrowing under the bark of one of the main roots. Under it was a mass of reddish-orange eggs. I removed the eggs and got the grub out.
Here it is:

Of course I mashed the little peckerhead into a white pulp with extreme prejudice immediately after taking the photo.

I did some poking around the web, and came up with a possible ID: http://dkbdigitaldesigns.com/clm/species/otiorhynchus_sulcatus

It's the larval stage of a beetle. If it's not this specific species, it is something very similar in look and behavior. According to the web site, it eats roots, especially in lawns and mulched areas.

My questions are; has anyone had this problem? Could it be the cause of the curling, browning leaves? What can be done about any other culprits lurking under the soil?

 

[crust]

chose your poison: use a soil drench. Bayer Advanced has stuff just for this. Homemade nicotine drenches work too, be careful with the nicotine. I use to make a tea out of used cig butts--very potent --don't spray it if possible and if you do use resp. and full clothing, gloves and eye pro.

 

[qwade]

Definately, some type of beetle grub. Yes they eat roots on there way up. Is this your source of browning leaves? Hard to say. The leaves in the tree pictured look healthy. Good news---grubs are probably up and out now. Research soil treatment for grub you believe is present. Local county extension maybe able to help.

 

[Dav4]

...and, fwiw, prunus species are magnets for all kinds of disease and pestilence. You should probably get used to spraying regularly.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Thanks guys, I'll look into it.

 

[Kandoloh]

Shoulda tried to drown it on a hook and hoped a large mouth fish tried to eat it before it died.

 

[M. Frary]

Looks like a June Bug larva.

 

[michaelj]

But it's July already. Didn't this grubby little guy get the memo?

 

[Lazylightningny]

Shoulda tried to drown it on a hook and hoped a large mouth fish tried to eat it before it died.

I should have thrown it in the tank for my goldfish

 

[Lazylightningny]

But it's July already. Didn't this grubby little guy get the memo?

The June bugs haven't hatched here yet, and I do get a lot of them, so I'm guessing that Mike may be correct. I plan on getting the Bayer Advanced Grub Control.

 

[M. Frary]

They are in the soil all over here where I live. That also brings the moles. We used to use the grubs for fishing when we were kids.

 

[lordy]

those would probably be Japanese beetle larvae if it was around the mid Atlantic region. It is indicated if you notice patches of dead grass in your lawn. I read that you can buy and treat your lawn with beneficial nematodes, which take care of the problem. Perhaps they, being Japanese, are going back to their "roots" in your pots...

 

[Cypress187]

I think you can also eat those if you want, i saw Bear Grylls eat something simular.